1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for protecting a vehicle occupant in a moving body, such as a vehicle, an aircraft, and a high-speed ship, at the time of a collision of the moving 55body, and particularly relates to an air belt apparatus which is worn by an occupant like a seat belt and inflated by a gas from a gas generating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air belt apparatus inflates at least a part of a belt portion of a seat belt apparatus (in particular, the part that makes contact with a body of a vehicle occupant) upon a collision or a rollover of a vehicle. Usually, this apparatus is provided with an air belt to which a gas is introduced to inflate the air belt, and a gas generator activates upon a vehicle collision and supplies the gas into the air belt.
An air belt apparatus for a vehicle is disclosed, for example, in JP-A No. 5-85301 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,250). In the apparatus disclosed in this document, one end of an air belt is connected to a tongue, a gas flow passage is provided in the tongue and a buckle that receives the tongue, and a gas is introduced into the air belt through the gas flow passages. The gas flow passages are connected by inserting the tongue into the buckle.
Once such an air belt apparatus is installed in a vehicle, it is usually used for many years, and therefore, it has to activate unfailingly even after being used for many years.
However, an air belt apparatus which solves an adverse effect that may occur during use for over the years has not been provided yet.